The invention relates to a louver system of the type having adjustable slats, which features removable, modular slat chips.
Systems of the type, having slats or vanes which can be angled at will, have found widespread use in the building trade for window and ventilation fixtures etc.
The most common embodiment of such a system is one that consists essentially of a metal frame in which the slats are supported between riveted swivel mounts and clips. The single mount, which is located inside a U-shaped upright frame member, consists in essence of a plate rotatable about its own axis and riveted at one side to two rods which produce the opening and closing movement of the slat; the other side of the mount incorporates a circular projection that fits into a corresponding hole in the upright.
The clip is formed with a pair of parallel lips designed to grip the relative slat from either side, and a pair of top and bottom teeth the purpose of which is to prevent the slat from sliding in relation to the parallel lips.
The control rods are also located within the U profile of the upright, and a lever, riveted to the rods and projecting from the upright, provides the means of rotating mounts and slats together in one direction or the other.
Such louver systems certainly provide economy from the construction standpoint, but can prove impractical, especially as regards assembly, since the entire unit must be put together prior to its location in the fixture; riveting operations likewise present practical problems.
In order to avoid such drawbacks, and at the same time provide the option of utilizing extruded aluminum slats (in response to a steadily increasing demand for that material), a second type of louver system has been developed, in which the single clip exhibits a first insertable part that fits into an axial socket in the slat, and a second insertable part that fits into a socket offered by a relative swivel mechanism, the swivel mechanism itself being lodged in a longitudinal channel incorporated into the upright frame member.
The single swivel mechanisms are located one above the other in the channel of the upright, and lock together in such a way that rotation of one of the slats causes the remainder to rotate simultaneously in like manner.
A system of this type must also be assembled before it can be lodged in the fixture, though the alternative does exist of exploiting the uprights of the fixture itself as upright frame members for the louver, provided that these incorporate a channel in which to accommodate the slat swivel mechanisms, and have holes affording passage to the second insertable part of the clips.
With this second type of system, one gains a certain advantage in terms of modular design, though the result is lacking in economy by reason of the complex constructional nature of parts such as the uprights and the swivel mechanisms; what is more, no solution is offered to the problem of how slats may be removed without dismantling the entire louver, a problem which remains similarly unsolved in the type of system first mentioned.
The object of the invention described herein is that of eliminating those drawbacks outlined in the foregoing preamble.